Saturday, June 22nd

“Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.  Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’ He said to them, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’  He said to them, ‘If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?  How much more valuable is a person than a sheep!  Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’  Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’  So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.  But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”  Matthew 12:9-14

Dear Jesus, The Jewish leaders had just confronted you out of envy.  They overlooked your mercy.  They refused to recognize you as their Savior too.  You could have and should have walked the other way.  But you didn’t.  You went straight into their synagogue and relentlessly loved them and other people in front of them.  You healed that man’s hand without any work.  You reminded them that they would do the same if they were not beset by jealousy.  You kept on loving and you knew full well it was setting up your death.  They began to plot how to kill you.  I’m blown away by such bold love.  I want to have that love too.  I know I’m not the famous healer meeting resistance because of envy, but I have resistance to my ministry to others at times.  I’m prone to give up way too early.  Help me not do that.  Make me love beyond the limits set by the hard hearted sinners I’m trying to love.  Make me forgiving and giving toward them in your name and for your glory.  Amen.

Learn not to care if people criticize you for how much you care for them and you will live an impactful life. 

Friday, June 21st

“Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.”  Psalm 32:2

Lord God, I’m careful to guard my reputation in front of other people.  I let them see what I want them to see.  I let them know what I want them to know.  I work really hard to put my mouth and my life run through filters so they see the best possible version of me.  Foolishly, I do the same thing in front of you.  I try to pretend to live a life I don’t really live.  I try to hide from you the struggles of my heart.  I try to hide from you the deception and the lies of my life.  I filter my life before you too.  Help me to see that confession is a safe place for me to go.  Help me see that your cross, O Jesus, is a safe place to be real and honest and transparent.  I can bring me just as I am.  And there, there you change me.  There you cleanse me and send me away as a new person.  Help me be honest with you.  And then, change me through your blood.  Amen.

We come to Jesus just as we are, but he never leaves us that way. 

Thursday, June 20th

“At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath.  His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.  When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, ‘Look!  Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.’   He answered, ‘Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?  He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread-which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.  Or haven’t you read of the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?  I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.  If you have known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’, you would not have condemned the innocent.  For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’”  Matthew 12:1-8

Dear Jesus, You and your heavenly Father created the Sabbath for people to find rest in you.  You never intended for it to prevent people from getting what they needed to sustain body and life.  In the same way you have blessed the rhythm of regular worship at local churches to sustain the souls of people.  You never intended that church attendance would be the measure of true righteousness.  Help me to see in the way you enlightened the Pharisees about their dead formalism, an insight for my own superficial judgements.  Give me a deeper understanding of how your statement regarding mercy, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” informs my thinking about everything done around my church.  Make all of us a grace filled, grace producing, grace relieving people.  Amen.

If you do not understand grace, you will never understand how to speak to people for God. 

Wednesday, June 19th

“At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.  ‘All things have been committed to me by my Father.  No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’”  Matthew 11:25-27

Dear Jesus, I love it that you have made the gospel so simple that every human being can grasp it.  You love us so much that you forgave us all.  You paid the debt that we owe.  You promise blessing in this life, the Holy Spirit to help us grow and heaven forever in body and soul.  People don’t have to be smart or special to receive this.  Thank you for choosing to reveal your truth to a plain sinner like me.  I love you for it.  I will seek to love you today by the way I live.  Amen.

God did not create the gospel for smart or good people alone.  He created it for all people. 

Tuesday, June 18th

“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”  Psalm 18:19

Lord God, When I stop to think and remember how completely you kept God’s commands for me, it amazes me.  When I stop to think and remember how fully you obeyed your Father’s will for me, I am overwhelmed.  I so often live with this unspoken and hidden pressure to perform.  It’s a burden that hangs over my head and presses down on my shoulders.  Yet this truth is so freeing.  You kept God’s commands for me.  You obeyed the Father’s will for me.  There is nothing left for me to do.  It’s all been done for me.  There are only things that I get to do.  Help me, then dear Jesus, run all out in the path of your commands for you have truly set my heart free.  Amen.

So, what are you waiting for?  Open it up today and live freely in the complete salvation won for you by the obedience of Jesus. 

Monday, June 17th

“As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed swayed by the wind?  If not, what did you go out to see?  A man dressed in fine clothes?  No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.  Then what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is the one about whom it is written: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.” Matthew 11:7-10

Dear Jesus, Oh how you wanted to define who John the Baptist was!  You were not worried about his own sense of value.  But rather, you wanted to make sure that everyone knew he was God’s man preaching an unrelenting message.  You wanted them to see him as the fulfillment of Scripture.  Isaiah and Malachi both talked about him.  He was your messenger preparing your people to find you.  It had all been foretold.  People just needed to realize it.  It’s grace that made you so careful to define John and his ministry.  I feel stronger in faith knowing that John the Baptist and his ministry were foretold just as you were.  Thank you for prophesying about John and then for creating and sustaining him so that all people could be saved by you.  Help me to speak about you with more confidence because I know more about John’s ministry and its place in your heart.  Amen.

Jesus needed John the Baptist to help him save us.  Now he needs us to help him save others. 

Saturday, June 15th

“After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.  When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’  Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.’”  Matthew 11:1-6

Dear Jesus, It must have hurt your heart to have John the Baptist doubt about you while he was incarcerated for leading people to repentance.  Since he was a man who studied prophecy you tenderly answered by reminding him about all the prophecies about your healing miracles that you were fulfilling.  At one and the same time, John would be encouraged to trust in you and in your word.  His disciples would too.  How patiently and lovingly you shepherded those men.  I’m encouraged by your grace and patience.  At times I have doubts too, but you have always drawn me back to your word just like you did for John.  I’m intrigued by the way you drag each of us through difficult times knowing full well that it will test our faith.  You trust our faith will endure more than we do.  It’s because you know how you will sustain that faith with your mighty Holy Spirit.  Thank you for buoying up our faith with your Bible that works faith in miraculous ways for all people.  Help me to keep my nose in your Bible every day for the sake of my eternal welfare.  Amen.

Jesus will always be the Savior for all people, even when we are a hot mess in doubt. 

Friday, June 14th

“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.  You set your glory in the heavens.”  Psalm 8:1

Lord God, As I look up in the night sky I hear the sun, the moon, and the stars singing about how great you are.  Father of the heavenly lights, as I see the sun dawn in the morning and run its daily course.  I hear a song about the good way you have ordered all things.  I can’t escape this majesty.  Help me to see it and marvel at the glory I see all around me.  Yes, sin has cursed it all.  And yet, your majesty still shines through.  Help me to marvel at it.  Amen.

Look up and ponder.  Look around and see.  God has painted his majesty in the sky.  God has shown his magnificence in the seas.  He has hung his glory in the sky for you to see.  But know this and marvel…it’s just the tip of the iceberg. 

Thursday, June 13th

“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.  Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.  And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”  Matthew 10:40-42

Lord Jesus, Thank you for giving me supportive friends and family as I live on mission for you.  It’s comforting to know that you see their support and promise to reward them from grace for their faith filled involvement in gospel ministry.  I also realize that when I support any Christian as I would a blood relative, you smile with approval.  Help me to fight my natural inclination to isolate myself and act like a lone ranger in the fight to spread your faith in a sin darkened world.  It’s easy to forget that you intended for me to be interdependent with others.  Don’t let me rob the Christians sharing your planet with me of through me.  Help Christians everywhere to boldly serve one another as fellow spiritual family members.  Amen.

When the world makes you feel alone, it’s time for some spiritual family time. 

Wednesday, June 12th

“Know that the LORD has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.”       Psalm 4:3

Lord God, It’s so easy to forget who I am as I walk through my days.  I get caught up in my activities and projects.  I get caught up in the things that I do.  I forget it when things go well and when they aren’t going as well.  Help me remember today that I am set apart for you and your purposes.  You set apart your Son for me that he might buy me for yourself.  Now, I am set apart for you.  I am your child.  Help me remember this and to hallow your name, that name you gave me, as I walk through this day.  Amen.

Tuesday, June 11th

“But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the one who lifts my head high.  I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain.”  Psalm 3:3-4

Lord God, Thank you for listening.  You pay attention to me and you protect me as if I were the only one in the world.  Like a parent hears their child in a crowded room, so you hear my prayer amid all the other people calling for your attention.  You hear me and you let me ascend your holy hill to call to you and talk to you about the challenges and struggles I face.  Thank you for listening!  Thank you for answering me in just the right way at just the right time.  Amen.

Monday, June 10th

“As you enter the home, give it your greeting.  If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you.  If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.  Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”  Matthew 10:12-15

Dear Jesus, You told your disciples to infiltrate the world with your gospel and if they weren’t accepted to shake the dust off their shoes.  I know you wanted them to keep caring for the lost, but you didn’t want them to lose sleep over them.  Nor did you want them to lose time for finding others.  You would send more people behind them to once again reach out to the lost that had rejected them.  You give us all so many opportunities to come to faith.  Help me to be bold and also to refuse to tarry too long with people who just aren’t ready.  I want to make the most of my life and I realize it could be a waste to keep returning to some folks.  Thank you for giving me the freedom to move on without worrying that you might miss something.  Amen.

Let God decide how many opportunities to give people to come to faith.  Just keep preaching and keep moving. 

Tuesday, June 18th

“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”  Psalm 18:19

Lord God, When I stop to think and remember how completely you kept God’s commands for me, it amazes me.  When I stop to think and remember how fully you obeyed your Father’s will for me, I am overwhelmed.  I so often live with this unspoken and hidden pressure to perform.  It’s a burden that hangs over my head and presses down on my shoulders.  Yet this truth is so freeing.  You kept God’s commands for me.  You obeyed the Father’s will for me.  There is nothing left for me to do.  It’s all been done for me.  There are only things that I get to do.  Help me, then dear Jesus, run all out in the path of your commands for you have truly set my heart free.  Amen.

So, what are you waiting for?  Open it up today and live freely in the complete salvation won for you by the obedience of Jesus. 

Saturday, June 8th

“Blessed is the person…For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”  Psalm 1:6

Lord God, You are all that I need.  You loved me first, most, and best.  Teach me to love you first, best, and most.  This day, this week, this year, I’m leaving for you and your applause.  Amen.

To be blessed means to enjoy the happy and rewarding life which comes from God alone.  Real happiness is the peace which comes through the forgiveness of sins.  Real happiness is receiving the freedom to live according to God’s Word.  Real happiness is enjoying the glory of living with God throughout eternity.  This is the blessing that awaits all those who delight in God’s Word”

Friday, June 7th

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.  Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins.  If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.  No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”  Matthew 9:16-17

Dear Jesus, John the Baptist’s disciples asked you why your disciples didn’t fast twice a week as they did.  You told them it was because fasting was for more difficult times than what your disciples were experiencing.  Your presence filled them with joy.  Oh, how you are bigger than life!  Harder times did come for your disciples after you eft.  Then they fasted but not the way the Pharisees did.  Instead, they sought your will in prayer and fasting.  They did not fast to earn your favor.  After you taught about fasting you used these two powerful illustrations (unshrunk cloth and new wine) to describe how incompatible your gospel is with religion built on moralism and laws.  You cannot try to fit your good news about all sins forgiven into a system of religious ceremonialism.  I’m thankful that you havwe graciously chosen me to learn about grace.  I’m forgiven of all my sins, free from all laws and happy to live a life of love toward you and all people.  I have a renewed desire to live well that I never got from rules.  Help me to live a good life today not because I ust but because I love to.  Amen.

Living for God is a no-brainer when you know he lives for you! 

Thursday, June 6th

“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.  When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’  On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.  For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”’”  Matthew 9:10-13

Dear Jesus, You did life with everyone.  You did not discriminate.  Love does that.  It reaches out to all.  I know why you did that too.  You came to find the lost, confront them, forgive them and bring them into your fold.  I want to live the same way.  I’m on mission with you.  Help me to live with the “sick” and challenge the scruples of the comfortably religious people around me.  Help me to live in the soup with people and to find ways to present to them your redeeming grace in conversations that engage and enlighten them.  I’m also open to learning from too.  Even lost people you let me meet can teach me things.  So, help me to ever become cliquish again.  Amen.

Everyone has a soul that needs redeeming and an experience that will bless others under God’s providence. 

Wednesday, June 5th

“When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.”  Matthew 9:8

Dear Jesus, When you proved you had authority to forgive sins by telling the paralyzed man to get up and walk away, you blew everybody’s mind.  But some of them were not just amazed, rather they were filled with faith and praise.  I believe you’re a real human being and really God at the same time and that you brought complete forgiveness for my checkered life into humanity.  I believe you have shared it with me just as you shared it with that man.  I believe I am forgiven!  It gives me peace and power to live a full life today.  Thank you for helping us poor sinners instead of condemning us.  I will strive to be like you today and will forgive people as I help them.  Amen.

Grace is better than air, water and food.  It nourishes the soul like nothing else can. 

Tuesday, June 4th

“The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this?  Even the winds and the waves obey him!’”  Matthew 8:27

Dear Jesus, They asked what kind of man you were.  As the God/man you really are very different from us.  My generation spends so much time talking about how you came to be with us and save us that we forget sometimes to give credence to your majesty.  You rule all things!  You are the center of the universe.  And you are our friend.  It means we are going to be okay.  We don’t need to fear so easily in a storm.  You are in the boat with us.  Calm my troubled heart and help me let go to the thought that you are guiding so much more than our ship.  You are guiding the planet on which the seas roll under the ship.  When I think about who you are I think less about short term storms.  Amen.

He guides the ocean beneath the ship, not just the ship. 

722.

Monday, June 3rd

“When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.  Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’  Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’  Another disciple said to him, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’  But Jesus told him, ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.’”  Matthew 8:18-22

Dear Jesus, You seemed so harsh to those two men.  But I know you had to have a loving reason to be so pointed.  You always want to win souls.  You wanted them to know that following you was more than a vacation.  It’s a whole-hearted adventure of service to God and one’s neighbor.  I get it.  You put everything on the line for us and so a full-bodied response is to put everything on the line for you.  If you will give me the strength, I will do that for you today.  Just show me how you want me to do it.  You deserve no less since you have redeemed my soul with your very life.  Amen.

We give it all for God since he gave it all for us! 

Saturday, June 1st

“When Jesus came into Peter’s house he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.  He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.  When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.  This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.’”  Matthew 8:14-17

Dear Jesus, You not only promise to listen to our prayers and heal us of many of our diseases, but you also do life with us.  You did not sit in heaven and pontificate blessings.  You came down and entered our difficult drama.  You submitted to the birth, growing up and growing older.  You endured pain, broken furniture and sicknesses.  Your friends and family hurt too.  But you also healed and released them of burdens.  All the while, you were marching to the cross to save us.  Matthew’s quote from Isaiah 53 reminds me that your journey on earth that included healing was still a journey to rescue us forever.  I see in the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, your great compassion for those close to you.  I am close to you.  I trust you are still on earth with me through your Holy Spirit and that you understand the difficulty of my health problems.  Be my healer and the healer of those I love so dearly.  Heal their bodies and lengthen their lives on earth.  Since you have rescued me for eternity I accept your decision either way, whether it be to heal or to simply accompany me in my misery.  Amen.

Jesus did life with us so we can do eternal life with him.